Tuesday, 3 February 2015

Professor Baker Vs the RSVP's

An old gaming friend of mine visited recently and decided he wanted to give Pulp Alley a go. Now despite there being little evidence on the blog so far its fair to say that Pulp Alley consumed most of my painting and gaming time in the last few months of 2014 and it doesn't look like that's going to change anytime soon.

As this was his first game we went with the introductory scenario from the main rule book - Smash & Grab. Set up is very simple with the main plot point in the center of the table and the other 4 placed by the players.

Set up with plot points marked in red

The plot was quite simple. David, an evil genius was attempting to gain control of the final piece needed for his Infernal Machine. Together with his sidekick Moffat and 5 of his dastardly creations, Robotic Servitors & Vehicular Prototypes (RSVP1 -5), they attempted to reach it in an abandoned research complex somewhere in the Welsh countryside before his old arch nemesis Prof Baker.

David - Evil Genius

Moffat - Davids mostly loyal sidekick

Attempting to put a halt to David's nefarious schemes were Professor Baker and his erstwhile, if somewhat alcoholic sidekick, The Colonel. These were supported by some of the British Empire Special Task Force (BEST[f]) troops. As is immediately apparent the forces of good need some work on their acronyms. These brave troopers were Sgt Hedges, Cpl's Fred and Bill and Pvt's Tom, Dick and Harry.

The Eccentric Prof. Baker

The somewhat inebriated Colonel

The first turn began with both sides simply moving towards the center of the board or the nearest plot point.

End of Turn 1

Characters began to reach the plot points during turn 2. Both major characters passed their challenges with ease but Moffat failed the initial peril and received a wound. This actually had serious ramifications at the end of the game as he failed each subsequent recovery roll.

Prof Baker avoids the explosive booby trap and gains the first plot point.

David wheels himself over to the nearest plot point and deciphers it easily

Pvt Tom, or was it Dick or Harry, attempts to find the plot point

Turn 2 saw the start of the action. First blood went to BEST[f] as Cpl Fred took out RSVP-3. This as soon followed by the destruction of RSVP-4. Things were not looking good for David at this point.

First Blood (or should that be oil?)

The situation at the end of Turn 2

Turn 3 saw two of BEST[f]'s troopers fall to accurate fire from RSVP-1 and RSVP-2, the latter of whom was to become a real thorn in their side for the remainder of the game.

Pvt Dick, or was it Harry or Tom, bites the dust

Cpl Fred falls to a well aimed shot

The situation at the end of Turn 3

Turn 4 saw the 2 sides began to close in on the major plot point. RSVP-2 took out the Colonel. Neither sidekick really got into the game which was a bit unusual bu just added to the narrative.

The end of the Colonel

Cpl Bill and a Pvt remain pinned down

The End of Turn 4

Over on the other flank RSVP-5 was pinning down two troopers (it may have been the other way around but hey I'm writing this)

RSVP-5 heroically pins down BEST[f]'s finest

Things really began to heat up around the plot point. By this time the Prof was just removing the vital component from the device.

RSVP-2 takes out another Pvt

Prof Baker flees with the component

Can the Prof make it to the mysterious blue box that appeared

He does with the only survivor of the group, the rather anonymous Sgt Hedges

There ended yet another very enjoyable game of Pulp Alley. That's the 6th or 7th game I've played and its still great fun despite the fact that most of the games have involved introducing a new player to the rules. I'm looking forward to the next few games now that we more or less know the rules and hopefully we'll be starting a Perilous Island campaign in the not too distant future.